An analysis of truck-driver system response to crosswind in tunnel exit conditions

Heavy vehicles entering and exiting a tunnel at high speed under strong crosswinds is a particularly critical condition since the aerodynamic load change drastically, greatly affecting the lateral stability of the vehicle. Active control systems (active suspensions, active front steering, etc.) and infrastructure ele-ments (e.g. wind fences) are proposed to reduce the induced risks. To help the design of these devices, the present paper investigates the response of the vehicle-driver system in the case of a high-sided lorry entering and exiting a tunnel under crosswind, by using driver-in-the-loop simulations. The study was performed us-ing the dynamic driving simulator of Politecnico di Milano and 28 test drivers. Vehicle and aerodynamic models have been developed to reproduce the phenom-enon in a highly immersive environment. During the tests, several combinations of vehicle and wind speed were considered. The effect of turbulence and vehicle loading condition (empty and full) was also investigated.